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Phil Jackson: Knicks 'not ready for showtime'

Adam Hunger / USA Today Sports

In case an opening night blowout loss at home wasn't enough for the New York Knicks, president Phil Jackson is at the ready to throw some salt in collective wounds.

Disappointed with the team's 24-point thumping at the hands of the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday, Jackson was quick to publicly criticize his team for entering the season something short of prepared.

"Not ready for showtime, were we guys?" Jackson said to reporters after the game.

The Knicks struggled mightily on offense, with Derek Fisher's triangle-based system producing only 80 points on 89 possessions. The team was without point guard Jose Calderon and power forward Andrea Bargnani, and the Bulls are one of the league's best defensive units, but it was a miserable start to what could be a long process.

"I can't say how long it's going to take," Jackson said, adding that he expected the Knicks to struggle out of the gate given the new system and new faces.

Fisher preached patience, too, saying that the road will be tough but that the team is going somewhere. Whether that somewhere is a field-goal percentage north of 36.5 percent is unclear.

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